156 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
are sufficient inducements of themselves, to cause us to pay more 
attention to them than we do. Instead, therefore, of permitting 
them to roam at large during the winter, and losing a large number 
annually in the bogs of the swamps, let them be housed, fed, and 
well littered. Let no one say that this cannot be done, or only ac¬ 
complished on a small scale. The success which has attended Dr. 
H. Ravenal, refutes this opinion. His stock is large, they are all 
housed and fed during the winter, and this is done by him, on three 
separate plantations, on each of which, the number of cattle, sheep 
and hogs, are considerable; nor does Dr. Ravenal possess any fa¬ 
cility for feeding them, not within the reach of all planters; but he 
is provident, and his cattle fare well. 
EFFICACY OF SPIRITS OF TURPENTINE IN DESTROYING INSECTS. 
M. D. Thosse, in Silliman’s Journal, after describing the efficacy 
of spirits of turpentine in destroying lice, &c. upon animals, gives 
the following narration of his experiments with trees. 
“ Having learned these facts, I soon found occasion to try its effects 
on some of my trees, which were attacked by a multitude of worms. 
These I destroyed entirely by putting into a bowl a few handsful of 
earth, on which I poured a small quantity of the spirits—-then add¬ 
ing water, and stirring the whole together until it had a proper con¬ 
sistence to be rubbed or brushed over the ends of the branches. 
The insects perish with their germs; and the odor remaining seve¬ 
ral days about the tree, repels fresh invaders. A mixture of earth 
is necessary, because spirits of turpentine swims upon pure water 
and will not mix with il; and if used in too great quantities, might 
burn the leaves. 
“ The drought which occurred a few years ago in the canton in 
which I live, produced a mange in cattle and horses, very extensive 
and injurious; and those who escaped this infection were filled with 
lice, from which they were promptly relieved by sponging them with 
water impregnated with the spirits. This infection caused horses 
fatigued with labor to rub themselves so much against their man¬ 
ners and the walls of the stables as to deprive them of much of the 
rest so necessary to their comfort. 
“ I cannot therefore doubt, from the trials that have been made, that 
much benefit might result from the use of turpentine in clearing 
fields and trees from insects of different kinds; and that a mixture 
of ashes with which a portion of this liquid has been incorporated, 
would remove, by its odor, ticks and other insects which infest tur¬ 
nips. Its odor is more penetrating in the open air than that of sul¬ 
phur, and some other materials used for this purpose.” 
[From the Genesee Farmer.'] 
QUERY TO FARMERS. 
Winter has come, and what provision have you made for passing 
the long evenings for the four ensuing months pleasurably and pro¬ 
fitably to yourself and others 1 The farmer who thinks it will do 
now, as formerly, to sit by the fire and drink cider, and tell stories 
through the winter, has not kept pace with the spirit of the times ; 
he is lamentably behind the spirit of the age in which we live. There 
has it is evident, a certain class of individuals grown up in our land, 
who speak of and treat the cultivators of the soil as an inferior caste, 
men who cannot understand the leading topics of the day, whose ut¬ 
most abilities are confined to the merit of being able to discuss a 
boiled potato and a rasher of bacon, and who ought not to be en¬ 
trusted with legislating for themselves, much less for others. If as 
a body the farmers are obnoxious to this reproach, we surely should 
lose no time in correcting the evil—if, as is believed, these aspersions 
are calumnious, they must be lived down. The farmer has no ex¬ 
cuse for ignorance. Information on all the useful and necessary sub¬ 
jects which come befere us as men, and citizens, is presented in 
shapes so easily accessible, that he who remains ignorant deserves 
to be a reproach and a by-word. Let no one think, then, that he is 
prepared for winter, who has not made arrangements for a liberal 
supply of food for the mind as well as the body. Well conducted 
papers, able periodicals, and valuable books must be procured, and 
they must be read and studied. Universal education is our boast, 
but it is foolish and vain-glorious, unless it is turned to useful pur¬ 
poses. Every farmer should be a practical utilitarian; “Cui bono,” 
should be his motto ; every day should witness some profitable ac¬ 
quisition of knowledge. A few dollars a year paid out for well se¬ 
lected and standard works will, in the course of a few passing years, 
provide a farmer with a valuable library. The farmer who has a 
family, is inflicting on them a cruel and irreparable wrong, if he by 
I his negligence or his parsimony deprives them of such a resource. 
i The young cannot be idle, and their time if not profitably employed 
j will be perhaps worse than thrown away. W. G. 
[From the Maine Farmer .] 
From unpublished papers of the Kennebec County Agricultural Society. 
ON THE CULTURE OF TEASELS. 
As teasels are very excellent materials to card cloth, and as no 
cloth can be dressed so well without them as with, I have thought 
proper to communicate the mode of their culture to the society. 
In the spring I sow the seed in rows six or eight inches apart; as 
soon as the plants are up enough, I weed them. In the fall of the 
year, I cover them with bushes, and in the spring I dig holes down 
to the plants to prevent their winter killing. The next spring I set 
them out, four or four and a half feet distant; it is not proper to nou¬ 
rish them this year, for if you do, there will more of them go to seed 
than otherwise would. I sow more seed the second year, to set out 
in the missing places, as they will die as soon as they have been to 
seed. The third year I nourish them as much as possible, to make 
them as large as I can, as they will be better. As soon as the blos¬ 
soms are fallen, I cut and spread them on a floor to dry. 
I get for the best, one dollar per hundred, and down to twenty- 
five cents. 
Communicated by ELIJAH WOOD. 
To the Committee of the Kennebec County Agricultural Society, ap¬ 
pointed to award premiums on honey, hives of bees, <% c. 
Having entered my name for premium on honey and on hives of 
bees, 1 will inform you how I have managed them for a few years 
past. I keep them in boxes—my boxes are thirteen inches square 
on the outside, and from six to seven inches high, with thin slats 
1 across the top about an inch wide, with just space enough to let the 
bees pass between them. For a young swarm I fasten two boxes 
together with a board on the top, put in the swarm, and when I set 
them on the bench, put under as many more as I think they will fill 
—a large early swarm will fill four or more. I had some this sea¬ 
son that filled three in about a fortnight, and then swarmed, and 
the young swarms have filled four boxes. After my old hives have 
swarmed once, I usually put under one or more boxes. I prefer that 
1 course, to letting them swarm again, for second swarms are gene¬ 
rally worthless. When the weather becomes cool, if the hive is well 
filled with honey, the bees will all leave the upper box,—it can then 
be taken off without disturbing the bees in the hive. I usually take 
from my old hives and early swarms one box containing from twen¬ 
ty to twenty-four pounds, and leave enough for the bees to live on 
through the winter, or I can take a part, and return the box if I 
think the remainder is insufficient for them. If my bees grow lazy 
after the swarming season is over, and hang out on the hive, which 
is in consequence of the hive being full, I add more boxes. I had a 
few small swarms which I have taken up otherwise. I have not de¬ 
stroyed any bees. I have taken up on my own farm this season, 
289 pounds of good honey in the comb, and I now own, including 
those that I have taken up, twenty-six hives. 
Leeds, Dec. 15, 1834. JOHN GILMORE. 
M. Rennici, a French chemist, has discovered and described the 
itch insect, sometimes denominated the Scotch fiddle. It is the acarus 
scabici. Like the mole, it has its fore legs strongly developed, while 
its hind quarters are comparatively feeble; it is thus enabled to bur- 
rough under the cuticle, and to make a road for itself as it proceeds. 
M. Raspael, whose skill in exploring minute objects is so celebrated, 
is engaged with his microscope in procuring farther details.— Medi¬ 
cal Gazette. 
The cost of producing and marketing a crop of hops, has been 
computed, by those well acquainted with the business, not to exceed 
eight cents per pound; and the common yield at full fifteen hundred 
pounds to the acre. The price in the market this year, is from eigh¬ 
teen to twenty cents per pound, yielding a nett profit to the farmer 
of full twelve cents on every pound of hops, after paying outlays of 
every description. This computation gives one hundred and eighty 
dollars clear income for every acre of land in growing hops.— Sag- 
Harbor Telegraph. 
Potatoes .—It has been a mooted question whether it is a good plan 
to cut potatoes in planting. A correspondent of the New-England 
Farmer, Ellsworth, has made an experiment, by planting an acre in 
